Moisture controller for drycleaning system

ABSTRACT

A drycleaning system which includes a washer for cleaning fabrics, a filter, conduit means interconnecting the washer and filter and a pump for circulating a volatile organic drycleaning solvent having a drycleaning detergent and water added thereto through the washer and filter. An impedance electrode is connected into the conduit means which is electrically connected to an impedance controller that controls a water supply unit for adding water to the drycleaning system. The impedance electrode means consists of a housing having a single concentric electrode positioned therein and a mounting means for holding said concentric electrode within the housing.

United States Patent 2,913,893 11/1959 -Mathewsetal Inventor Robert A. Gillespie Skaneateles, N.Y. Appl. No. 10,700 Filed Jan. 26, 1970 Division of Ser. No. 730,855, May 21, 1968, Pat. No. 3,522,718 Patented Oct. 5, 1971 Assignee Staufier Chemical Company New York, N.Y.

MOISTURE CONTROLLER FOR DRYCLEANING SYSTEM 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 339/22 R, 339/1 17 R Int. Cl I-101r 13/60 Field 01 Search 339/22, 59, ll7,118,116,136;68/l3, 207

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,940,287 6/1960 Henderson 68/13 2,971,177 2/1961 Linhart 339/5 3,013,572 12/1961 Lahti et al...... 137/93 3,101,239 8/1963 Warren et al. 68/13 X Primary Examiner-Ian A. Calvert Assistant Examiner-Robert A. Hafer AnorneysDaniel C. Block, Robert C. Sullivan, Donald M.

MacKay and Paul .1. Juettner ABSTRACT: A drycleaning system which includes a washer PATENTEU 0m 5 l97l SHEET 1 [IF 2 INVENTOR. ROBERT A. GILLESPIE ATTORNEY PATENTEDUBT 5 I9?! SHEET 2. [IF 2 INVENTOR. ROBERT A. GILLESPIE ATTORNEY MOISTURE CONTROLLER FOR DRYCLEANING SYSTEM RELATED APPLICATION I This application is a division of application Ser. No. 730,855, fled May 21, I968, I'IOW U.S. Pat. N0. 3,522] 8.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the art of drycleaning fabrics, the soiled fabrics are subjected to the action of a volatile organic solvent which is immiscible with water. The present day volatile organic solvents are naphtha, Stoddard solvent, carbon tetrachloride, gasoline, benzene, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, and the like, although the Stoddard type and perchloroethylene are the most commonly used. Such solvents are effective for the removal of grease or oil stains as well as dust, dirt, lint and the like which commonly adhere to'the grease and oil. It is conventional practice to introduce into the volatile organic solvent in the washer a small portion of an oil soluble dispersing agent or detergent. These are in the form of oil soluble dispersing agents such as oil soluble higher fatty acid soaps or other type of anionic, cationic, or nonionic dispersing agents. However, an oil soluble synthetic organic detergent is preferably employed. These include long chain petroleum sulfonates such as mohogany sulfonates, sujlfated fatty alcohol such as lauryl sulfate, longchained sulfyl acetates such as lauryl sulfyl acetate, long chained alkyl sulfosuccinates such as dioctyl sodium sulfyl succinates,; higher fatty acid monoglyc eride such as mono-olein, higher fatty acid monoglyc erides sulfates such as mono-olein, monosulfates,

and the like, the sulfates and sulfonates being used in the form of their salts. e

In addition to the dispersing agents and/or detergents being added to the solvent' systems, it is also conventional to introduce into the volatile organic solvent in the washer a small portion of water. In the presence of such dispersing agents and/or detergents, the water added to the drycleaning volatile organic solvent is a very finely divided colloid dispersed throughout the solvent so as to form what is apparently a homogeneous solution. The amount of water that is added to the volatile organic solvent will vary according to the weight and nature or condition of the fabrics added to the washer and also by the relative humidity in the atmosphere and by other factors.

In the drycleaning operation proper, the soiled fabrics will contact the drycleaning solution in the washer or wheel. The fabrics will absorb a certain amount of the water from the drycleaning solution, the amount of absorbed water will depend upon the nature and condition of the fabrics. The remaining moisture in the drycleaning organic solvent solution remains more or less constant during the cleaning operation of that particular batch of clothes. However, when a new batch of clothes or fabrics is introduced into the washer and is contacted with the drycleaning organic solvent solution an additional amount of water is absorbed by the cloth or fabrics. The result is that in the drycleaning operation conducted by most commercial operations the moisture content of the volatile organic solvent solution varies considerably from batch to batch of For the fabrics and at various stages of use thereof. For the drycleaning of different batches of fabrics, the moisture content drops to a point where it is inadequate to serve its intended purposes and the cleaning results are nonuniform. Additionally, in the drycleaning step proper as noted above, it has been the practice to utilize various concentrations of the detergents therein. During the cleaning of the various batches of fabrics, the volume of the solvent-detergent solution decreases and it has therefore been the practice to replenish it from time to time with more charged solvent.

In order to conserve or reclaim the detergents used within the drycleaning systems, it has been proposed to employ the so-called two bath system." This procedure involves the use of a second wash or rinse wherein the clothes are agitated removed from the clothing and reclaimed. This procedure has proved to be time consuming and expensive due to the reclaiming operation. Moreover, slight degradation of the fabric has been noted in the two bath system.

In order to obviate these problems, it has been proposed to employ a conductivity measuring device within the system. This includes an electrode system connected into the system having a pair of spaced-apart electrodes within a housing member in the piping wherein the solvent would be passed between the electrodes to measure the resistance of the fluid therebetween. The amount of resistance would be directly proportional to the amount of moisture within the solvent and could be relayed to a controller. The controller-would automatically open and close a solenoid valve in response to the amount of resistance within the fluid to replenish the water supply. The controllers of these systems are of the Wheatstone bridge type and are not sensitive to the presence of water below about 0.2 percent by volume. Such a procedure is outlined and claimed in US. Pat. Nos. 2,913,893; 3,101,239 and 3,101,240.

However, with the advent of more sophisticated detergent formulations wherein the amount of water added to the solventsystems will range between 0.01 and 0.07 percent by volume, the above apparatus and procedure has proved to be unworkable. Thus, there has been a long felt need in the industry for a control system to measure the amount of water added to the system in response to the conductivity of the solvent system to maintain a water content within the solvent system of between 0.01 percent and 0.07 percent by volume.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It has been discovered that the water content within a drycleaning volatile organic solvent can be controlled with extreme precision within a range of about 0.01 to about 0.07 percent by volume. This is brought about by incorporating within the solvent system an impedance electrode having a single electrode concentrically mounted within a housing which measures the conductivity of the fluid within the solvent system. The amount of conductivity is relayed from the electrode to a solid-state controller which automatically actuates a water control system to add water to the system when the water content of the solvent system becomes belowa predetermined volume.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a schematic illustration of a drycleaning system.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the impedance electrode of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 1-1 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the practice of the present invention, a volatile organic solvent containing a small portion of water and a small amount of detergent is circulated within a drycleaning system. The drycleaning system includes a washer or wheel 1 having the usual door 2 hingedly mounted at 4 therein. The door 2 is provided with the usual window 3 for visual inspection of the washing operation. A button trap 5 is mounted beside the washer 1 and provided with a closure 6 hinged at 7 so that the trap can be cleaned from time to time. A conduit 8 having a union 9 connects the button trap 5 with the inlet portion of a pump 10. The pump 10 is driven by a motor means 11, usually an electrical motor. The motor 11 and pump I0 are mounted on a support number 12. The outlet end of the 'pump 10 is connected to a conduit 13 having a union 14 therein, which conduit l3 interconnects the inlet 16 of filter 15 with the pump 10. A gauge 18 is mounted within the conduit 13 to visually inspect the pressure within the system.

The filter 15 is provided with the usual cover or closure 17 and supported by legs 17'. The filter 15 functions to remove dirt, lint or other solidmaterials from the solvent system as is within a solvent. In this manner the detergent is clearly conventional in the art. The outlet 19 of filter 15 is connected moisture content within the solvent system will be depleted by the clothing being washed within the washer 1. As the water content within the solvent depletes, the impedance of the solvent system will change and will be sensed by the electrode unit 21. This is brought about by the current flowing between electrode unit 62 and housing 35. The change in impedance is registered to the controller 25 by coaxial cable 26. The controller 25 will then activate the water supply unit 29 and open the solenoid valve and allow water to be charged into conduit 8 of the solvent system by pipe 33. When a sufiicient amount of water is added thereto, the water control system is auto matically turned ofi' by the controller 25. In this manner, a close tolerance of water content is maintained within the solvent system.

What is claimed is:

l. A subcombination comprising: an impedance electrode unit having a tubular housing member, a single tubular electrode concentrically positioned within said housing and spaced therefrom; means mounting said single tubular electrode within said housing member comprising an elongated support member extending through an opening through an adapter that is rigidly mounted on said housing unit, said opening through said adapter having angular disposed walls diverging upwardly and inwardly with respect to said elongated support member; insulation means positioned between said elongated support member and the walls of said opening and having complimentary angular portions with respect to said angular disposed walls of said opening, means on the outer portion of said elongated support member for connecting a source of electricity, and a nonconducting spacer means extending between said adapter and said means for electrically connecting said support member to said single tubular electrode.

2. The subcombination as set forth in claim 1, together with nonconducting spacer means mounted on said single tubular electrode to maintain a fixed distance between said single tubular electrode and said tubular housing member. 

1. A subcombination comprising: an impedance electrode unit having a tubular housing member, a single tubular electrode concentrically positioned within said housing and spaced therefrom; means mounting said single tubular electrode within said housing member comprising an elongated support member extending through an opening through an adapter that is rigidly mounted on said housing unit, said opening through said adapter having angular disposed walls diverging upwardly and inwardly with respect to said elongated support member; insulation means positioned between said elongated support member and the walls of said opening and having complimentary angular portions with respect to said angular disposed walls of said opening, means on the outer portion of said elongated support member for connecting a source of electricity, and a nonconducting spacer means extending between said adapter and said means for electrically connecting said support member to said single tubular electrode.
 2. The subcombination aS set forth in claim 1, together with nonconducting spacer means mounted on said single tubular electrode to maintain a fixed distance between said single tubular electrode and said tubular housing member. 